The review uncovered systemic problems in how the benefit was administered, leaving many carers facing substantial debts and financial penalties. Some recipients received demands reaching five-figure sums after unintentionally breaching earnings thresholds. Others reported feeling “criminalised” for minor administrative errors.
Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall confirmed that the reassessment programme represents one of the largest reviews of benefit cases in recent years. While individual timelines have not been disclosed, the process is expected to take several months to complete.
Carer’s Allowance provides £81.90 per week to those caring for someone at least 35 hours a week, but recipients must earn less than £151 weekly after deductions. Historically, small breaches of this earnings limit have triggered significant repayment demands.
The reassessment will:
- Reevaluate cases dating back to 2015.
- Repay or write off debts where averaging of earnings would have resulted in lower overpayments, including cases where money has already been repaid in full.
- Draw on evidence and case studies from Carers UK, which documented experiences of over 100 carers affected by overpayments.
Helen Walker, Chief Executive of Carers UK, welcomed the move, calling it “a landmark day for the carers’ movement.” She said the reassessment represented “a righting of a clear wrong” and praised the Government for responding to the independent review led by Liz Sayce OBE.
Walker added: “This is addressing the injustice head-on. Carers have endured huge emotional and financial distress, and this action offers hope for rebuilding trust in the system. It also opens the door to further reform to ensure Carer’s Allowance better supports unpaid carers balancing paid work alongside their caring responsibilities.”
The review has been described as unprecedented in scope and follows years of campaigning by Carers UK and extensive media coverage highlighting the hardship faced by unpaid carers under the previous system.
